Method of making rip-wire can closures



June 1954 P. BOGNER 2,631,025

METHOD OF MAKING RIP-WIRE CAN CLOSURES Filed April 4, 1949 Patented June 15, 1954 UNITED STATE L ATENT OFFICE METHOD OF MAKING RIP-WIRE CAN CLQSURES British company Application April 4, 1049, Serial No. 85,376

Claims priority, application Great Britain April 9, 1948 4 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in ripwire can closures. The general type of can having a rip-wire can closure can be seen for example in United States Patents Nos. 2,250,002, 2,277,066 and 2,350,870.

One object of this invention is to simplify the means and method of forming a wire-receiving channel in a can closure. Another object is to ensure that in a closure ready for application to a can or seamed to a can the rip-wire-holding channel shall not protrude substantially above the top surface of the closure. A third object is to provide a rip-wire closure, viz, a lid which can be sealed to a can by standard sealing means so that the closures made according to this invention can be supplied to a canning factory ready for use in the ordinary seaming methods and de- Vices already in use.

According to this invention the method of making a rip-wire closure for a can from a blank having a central depression to fit within the can body and a marginal flange adapted to be interfolded with the can body consists in applying Within the corner between the closure wall and the marginal flange a single internal roller having a rim-width substantially equal to the rip- Wire diameter and simultaneously applying outside said corner an external roller having two annular radial flanges co-operating with the internal roller to form a wire-receiving channel which does not protrude substantially above the marginal flange and thereafter sqeeezin a ripwire into said channel by a single internal roller or finger and simultaneously nipping the neck of the channel by two external rollers which force the walls of the channel together to grip the rip Wire. The two external rollers are preferably chamfered.

It is desirable that in a closure ready for application to a can the rip-wire channel shall not protrude substantially above the top surface of the closure, i. e. above the surface of the marginal flange (thus, it should not protrude more than one or two hundredths of an inch) and for this reason it is preferred that the plane of the single internal roller and the direction of its ad vance shall lie at an angle of about 30 to 60 (preferably about 45) to the plane of the marginal flange. It is also preferred that the external roller with the tWo annular radial flanges (i. e. with a peripheral annular groove) co-operating with the internal roller shall also have its plane (and its direction of advance) at a similar angle.

However it is a feature of this invention that while this same arrangement might be used to squeeze the rip-wire (preferably of a slightly larger diameter than the width of the channel) into the wire-receiving channel, a preferred method is to apply a similar internal roller or the same internal roller and two external rollers which nip the neck of the channel with the wire embedded therein. The result of these arrangements is that the closure as supplied to the canner has the rip-wire embedded in a channel right in the internal angle or corner of the closure, said channel not protrudin substantially above the level of the marginal flange of the closure thus ensuringprotection of the ridge or channel during the various stages of manufacture and transport of the closure and during the various stages of the can-filling and seaming and during transport of the sealed can.

An outstanding advantage is that a closure made according to this invention may be seamed to a standard can by standard seamin methods and apparatus.

The nature of this invention and of subsidiary features will be appreciated from the following description of an example, reference being made to the accompanyin drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a diagram illustratin the first stage, viz. the operation of forming a rip-wire channel in the corner between the upstanding Wall and the marginal flange of the closure;

Figure 2 is a diagram illustrating the insertion of the rip-wire into the channel and the means for nipping the channel externally; and

Figure 3 illustrates part of the closure ready for application to a can.

Referring to Figure 1, the upstanding wall 22 of the lid or closure is continued as usual to form the annular marginal flange I 3. The inner roller M has a width the same as or slightly less than the diameter of the rip-wire. The external roller l5 has two annular flanges I6 adapted to engage the outer surface of the corner of the closure and to co-operate with the internal roller M in the formation of the channel. The direction of advance of these rollers is indicated in Figure 1, which also illustrates the preferred disposition of the rollers in relation to the closure. The axles of the rollers H3, H5 are rotatably mounted in an automatic machine provided with means to ensure the precise advance of the rollers towards one another and their subsequent withdrawal.

I Referring to Figure 2, the rip-wire I7 is squeezed into the channel [8 by a roller I4, and two external rollers l9 preferably with chamfered peripheries are brought into engagement with the outer surface of the corner of the closure while the wire I! is being inserted and also after the wire is squeezed right home in the channel l8 so as to nip the neck of of the channel and firmly grip the Wire as indicated in Figure 3.

The method of dealing with the ends of the rip-wire forms no part of the present invention.

The drawings and the specific description thereof are for purposes of illustration only and the following modifications would fall within the present invention. There may be one internal roller and two external rollers co-operating with the internal roller to form the wire-receiving channel. There may be a single internal roller, an external co-planar roller to limit the outward displacement and two external rollers to efiect the inward pressure at the sides of the channel.

I claim:

1. A method of making a rip-wire closure for a can from a blank having a central depression to fit within the can body and a marginal flange adapted to be interfolded with the can body, which method consists in applying within the corner between the closure wall and the marginal flange a single internal roller having a rim width substantially equal to the rip-wire diameter and simultaneously applying outside said corner external roller means cooperating with the inter nal roller to form an obliquely directed wire' receiving channel of which the upper wall does not protrude substantially above the marginal flange and thereafter squeezing a rip-wire into said channel by a single internal roller and simul taneously nipping the neck of the channel by two external nipping rollers which force the walls of the channel together to grip the rip-Wire.

2. A method of making a rip-wire closure for a can from a blank having a central depression to fit within the can body and a marginal flange arranged to be interfolded with the can body which method consists in forming by a rolling process within and around the corner between the closure wall and the marginal flange and beneath the plane of the top of the said flange an obliquely directed wire-receiving channel of a Width and depth substantially equal to the diameter of a rip-wire, inserting the rip-wire in said channel and immediately following the insertion of the rip-wire urging together by a second rolling process the sides of the neck of the channel so as to secure the rip-wire in the channel.

3. A method of making a rip-wire closure for a can from a blank having a central depression to fit within the can body and a marginal flange surrounding said depression and adapted to be interfolded with the can body, comprising formby rolling within the corner between the wall of the central depression and the marginal flange a wire-receiving channel substantially equal in width and depth to the rip-wire diam eter, simultaneously applying rolling pressure on the exte nal walls of said corner opposite the channel forming operation to maintain the corner substantially at the level of the marginal flange during the formation of the wire-receiving channel, inserting a rip-wire in said channel and thereafter exerting rolling pressure on the neck of the channel to deform the walls of the channel about the rip-wire to grip it.

4. A method of making a rip-wire closure for a can forming a blank having a central depression to fit within the can body and a marginal flange surrounding said depression and adapted to be interfolded with the can body comprising forming by rolling within the corner between the wall of the central depression and the marginal flange an obliquely directed wire-receiving channel at an angle between 30 and 60 to the plane of the marginal fiange, simultaneously applying rolling pressure on the external walls of the said corner to maintain the corner substantially at the level of the marginal flange during the formation of the wire-receiving channel, inserting the rip-wire in said channel and thereafter exerting rolling pressure on the neck of the channel to force the walls of the channel into engagement with the rip-wire.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,044,327 Quinby June 16, 1936 2,149,308 Peckham Mar. 7, 1939 2,277,066 Bogner Mar. 24, 1942 2,350,870 Bogner June 6, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 107,340 Australia May 3, 1939 527,010 Great Britain Oct. 1, 1940 

